WE’RE BACK with another featured build, and this time our focus is customizability. We wanted to make a straightforward, versatile system to act as a launchpad for future expansions. As such, we had a budget to work with: $500. And we stuck to it (sort of). We decided early on that integrated graphics would be the way to go; we’ve got the space to add a dedicated GPU (or any other expansion cards that strike our fancy) later, if we want.
Flexibility is king here, but our system needed to be a capable PC in its own right, too. A mix of old and new components proved to be the cocktail we needed to create the perfect system for this task, although we’ll look back at the end and see whether there’s anything we could have done better. We’ll also be taking some time to break down the directions in which this system could be upgraded, whether it’s to become a high-powered gaming rig or a music-editing system.
That placed a few caveats upon us. First off, we needed a motherboard that was ready for upgrading; that meant plenty of DIMMs and PCIe slots, along with M.2 support, and the ability to take new Ryzen CPUs. We’re going with AMD rather than Intel for our processor, due to the availability of newer AMD chips with integrated graphics. We also needed a PSU capable of handling those extras, and a case with room for more drives.
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Maximum PC.
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Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Maximum PC.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Google Gemini vs. ChatGPT
Which LLM currently holds the crown?
Frostpunk 2
Endure a blizzard of tough choices and lasting consequences in the survival city builder sequel
Elgato Facecam Neo
Always sees us in the best light but lacks focus: 8/10 boyfriend, er, camera
Elgato Wave Neo
The Kanye West of mics: Easy to get into, but a little weird
Razer BlackWidow V4 75%
Solid and compact, with hot-swappable switches
Razer Wolverine V3 Pro
Razer's pro controller is even better than Microsoft's
Acer Predator GM712
2008 called, it wants its projector back
AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL
A chair as big and as comfortable as they come
Gigabyte F027Q2
Speed is of the essence with this OLED screen
Acer Nitro 14
AMD puts on a good show, but it still lacks punch